Question for anyone who can help! I love the idea of making these origami-style animal profiles as gifts for my kids, nieces, and nephews, but I’ve hit a snag. I attempted some practice cuts for this Unicorn today (see attached) on a piece of wood that is 0.9 inches thick. I used the 1/8”x R0.25mm Tapered Ball Nose bit from Sienci Labs, but the flutes length of cut is only 0.6 inches long.
Since the wood is thicker than the Tapered Ball Nose bit’s reach, I started smelling burnt wood and quickly realized I’d made a mistake. There’s a 2mm burn mark around the inner edges, just above the 0.6-inch depth, as well as a ring of resin/burnt fibers on the bit where the shank meets the flute. Should I plane the wood down to half an inch (though I don’t love how thin that is), or is there a better technique or tool for cutting into those sharp inner corners for wood that’s about 1 inch thick? I’ve also considered that the vector needs to be larger for this to work? The vectors total dimensions were around 12”x8” because it fits perfectly onto a piece of Boxelder Maple that’s in my garage.
If this information helps, my Pocket tool paths were as follows:
1/4” Roughing Bit
1/8” Flat Up Cut 2F
1/8” Tapered Ball Nose
Appreciate any and all feedback. I really learn more from this group than anywhere else. Thanks!
@Tpoole1988 What are you using for CAD/CAM software. One solution in VCarve would be do these as two sided projects, cutting down half the thickness from each side. I do this will jigsaw puzzles.
Are these just profile toolpaths? When you’re at full depth of cut you will have the same radius on the top of your piece as your 1/8” endmill. I think gwilki has the answer. If you want sharper corners do a finishing pass with your smallest endmill that will reach halfway.
I use VCarve and honestly I thought about making it a 2-sided project. I posted on the Facebook user group and someone told me to do basically the exact same thing that you’re recommending . The problem is that I’ve never done one before. I’ve only watched videos of 2-sided cuts, and the piece I was cutting from was on “obscure” shape so I was worried about getting it lined up on both sides after the flip. I would like to do that for a future project because I want to make a really large bear and fox geometric piece for my son’s rooms. My issue on this piece is that I was up against the clock and running out of time. I think I posted this request on Friday night and my niece’s birthday party was Sunday mid-day. I really didn’t have the time to practice, mess up, and correct for my first attempt on a 2-sided cut. I ended up taking the advice from a neighbor who works in graphic design. He recommended I make an opposing color 3-D profile piece, milling down and cutting the original piece out at a really thin depth. See the attached piece.
